Scorsese's AI venture sparks 'betrayal' outcry from Hollywood artists

Martin Scorsese's decision to partner with Black Forest Labs, an artificial intelligence company behind the image-generation tool FLUX, has ignited strong opposition from Hollywood's art directors, production designers, and illustrators. In a sharp statement, the guild representing these professionals condemned the acclaimed director for "turning his back on human artists" and labeled his actions a "betrayal."

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Mr. Scorsese, the business is not in a state of flux.

FLUX is an AI tool that creates images from text prompts. Scorsese recently announced his role as a strategic advisor to Black Forest Labs and appeared in a promotional campaign, touting the technology as a way to visualize cinematic ideas and streamline communication with creative teams. However, the Art Directors Guild (Local 800) immediately voiced its strong disapproval.

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The Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese is turning his back on human artists who throughout his career have helped him create his most memorable works.

"Mr. Scorsese, the business is not in a state of flux," the guild's statement began, playing on the name of the promoted tool. The union directly accused the Oscar winner of abandoning the human artists who have been instrumental in creating his most memorable works throughout his career. They specifically questioned his presentation of AI as a solution for conveying visual concepts to a team.

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The solution is the use of this generative AI program to perform the jobs that are legitimately the jurisdiction of artists and designers of Local 800, the union representing art directors, production designers, and illustrators in Hollywood.

The guild emphasized that generative AI tools like FLUX often rely on ingesting vast amounts of copyrighted material, likely scraped from the internet without permission, credit, or compensation. This practice, they argue, undermines the contributions of the artists and designers who are legitimately part of the Local 800. The statement concluded by reaffirming the high value that the skills of Local 800 artists and designers bring to any film or television production.

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The promotion by Mr. Scorsese of a generative AI product eludes the contribution of Local 800 art directors, graphic artists, illustrators, production designers, scenic artists, set designers, and other talented professionals from the union.